The Dancing Lesson
by Lebug80
Summary: At the Weasley's house Harry tries to learn to dance and ends up with an unexpected partner HarryCharlie
1. Default Chapter

Title: The Dancing Lesson  
  
pairing: pre_slash: Harry/Charlie  
  
rating: PG_13 in content but is preslash  
  
spoilers: HP and the Goblet of Fire & celerysticks "Oil and Water" fic (#892304)  
  
Summary: While staying at the Weasley's house the summer after the Goblet of fire  
  
Harry tries to teach himself to waltz and ends up with an unexpected partner.  
  
Disclamer:This story is actually a vignette which was inspiredy by celerysticks fic  
  
entitled"Oil and Water" (the id for this story is 892304) Please go and read it. It can be  
  
read before or after mine, it does not matter. I am posting my story with her permission.   
  
I do not however have the permission of J.K. Rowlings nor those who actually own her  
  
story or characters therefore they belong to her and not me. Thanks! :0)  
  
  
  
THE STORY:  
  
"One, two, three, one , two , three, one, two three.." With a grim face of determination  
  
Harry Potter attempted to waltz around Ron's room. Despite the fact that he couldn't  
  
dance this was a feat in and of its self in Ron's messy room. However Harry had no  
  
choice, he had to grab every spare moment he could, because all of his other moments  
  
were caught up in the presence of at least one and usually more than one Weasley. It  
  
was the summer after the Tri_Wizard tournament and Harry was determined to learn  
  
how to dance in order to not make a fool of himself should the necessity of it ever arise  
  
again. The idea had occurred to him when George had made the discovery of an old  
  
tape of his parents that was a dance instructional tape. He and Fred had bugged their  
  
parents till Mrs. Weasley laughing had confessed that their father had two left feet and  
  
she'd had to do something about it before their wedding. This was met with many  
  
giggles and laughs, however Mr. Weasley had grabbed his wife around the middle and  
  
very nicely danced her around the dinner table. Everyone applauded this performance  
  
and after having redeposited his wife in her chair and given her a big kiss, Mr. Weasley,  
  
red faced attempted to return the conversation to Quidditch. After receiving only a  
  
couple more catcalls from the twins for more dancing, Charlie had saved his father by  
  
asking anyone if they fancied a Quidditch match right now, which was met with  
  
enthusiastic responses and dinner was soon forgotten in a race for the make_shift  
  
quidditch pitch.  
  
Harry however had not forgotten about the tape and had formulated his plan of teaching  
  
himself to dance, thus every quiet moment he could grab he snuck away with the  
  
Weasley's music box and the tape, to try and practice. This was only his second time  
  
attempting and he listened patiently as the voice on the tape began to get frustrated  
  
with his attempts.   
  
"First of all dear you need a partner, secondly why can't you count, its really not that  
  
hard!!"  
  
Harry gritted his teeth and, ignoring her first requested, tried to get his feet and his  
  
counting in synch before someone would come looking for him.  
  
Charlie Weasley came running up the stairs. He was anxious to get to his room and  
  
bring down the collection of dead dragon scales to show Bill. He had just arrived home  
  
the other day for the traditional Weasley summer vacation. Every year for the last week  
  
of the summer every Weasley child was required to be home, no if ands or buts. Bill  
  
had arrived today and Charlie was really glad to see him. As Charlie passed Ron's  
  
room he heard music and muffled voices. He knocked once but received no response.   
  
He knew that Ron was out of the house, him and Hermione having taken a walk to get  
  
some private time alone, so he wondered who could be in the room and what they were  
  
doing in there. He slowly opened the door to reveal Harry concentrating with all his  
  
might on his feet and the voice of a tired old which counting of the beats to a waltz. He  
  
watched quietly, till he saw Harry trip and almost fall down, then knocking again he  
  
made his presence known.  
  
"Hey Harry, nice moves" he said "Do you want a partner?"  
  
Harry looked up wild eyed and concerned that someone had caught him. Damn, he  
  
thought. at seeing it was Charlie, however he was glad that it was him and not one of  
  
the twins who would have never let him live it down. Although, on second thought he  
  
didn't know Ron's second eldest brother that well, be may be just as much trouble as  
  
the twins.  
  
"Uhm, " Harry stammered "Hi, Charlie, I was just a.. Well you see...." then he  
  
remembered that Charlie has said something, "what was that you said?"  
  
Charlie laughed and closing the door behind him he stepped into the room. "I asked you  
  
if you would like some help? My father isn't the only Weasley that can dance you  
  
know."  
  
Harry looked at Charlie with wide eyed disbelief. Charlie, a guy, was going to help, him  
  
Harry, a guy learn how to waltz? Was that somehow more appropriate in the Wizarding  
  
world then in the Muggle? He, Harry didn't have any problems with it per say.. He had  
  
been unsure about his status as a straight man for a while now. His feeble attempts at  
  
convincing himself that he was in love with Cho Chang had failed miserably as the faces  
  
of Draco, or Dean or even Oliver kept popping into his head when he thought about  
  
kissing her. Harry was just unsure about Charlie. He had no idea what is preference  
  
was. He had always assumed straight because that was the norm, but really it had  
  
never been stated so he didn't know.   
  
"Well, " he decided that it didn't have to be a matter of sexual preference. Charlie  
  
probably saw Harry as a younger brother, and it wasn't to far out of the norm for  
  
brothers to teach each other, right? "Sure, I could actually use a hand, the tape keeps  
  
telling me to get a partner"   
  
"Ah, yes, Sylvia the dance tape instructor, How are you doing Sylvia?"  
  
"Well, since noone has used me since you and Bill taught each other and now I am  
  
stuck with his atrocious dancer, not so well. How are you doing dear? Are you going to  
  
help him?" the tape answered, the latter part of her speech said in a sickly sweet voice.  
  
At hearing that Bill and Charlie had done this before and realizing that Charlie probably  
  
most definitely saw Harry as a younger brother, Harry felt a little bit sad, like some small  
  
hope might have been dashed, although he wasn't sure exactly why considering he  
  
didn't know Charlie all that well. However he didn't have time to pursue those thought  
  
as Charlie took his hands and addressing the tape said;"Of course. Sylvia, please start  
  
at the beginning."  
  
Turning to Harry now, he smiled and said "Bill and I started practising the end of my 3rd  
  
year at Hogwarts, I protested at first till he convinced me that it would be definitely worth  
  
my while", at this he grinned mischievously as if with a secret and began the dance.  
  
"Okay, Harry, now it is a one, two, three, one, two three, forward together , right  
  
together, back together, just do the opposite of what I'm doing and try to allow me to  
  
lead your body in the right direction."  
  
Harry tried to follow Charlie's movements and he was beginning to sort of get the hang  
  
of it, the only problem was he kept stepping on Charlie's toes.  
  
"One, two, back, ouch"  
  
"Sorry"  
  
"Don't worry about it, just keep going" Charlie thankfully had cast a spell protecting his  
  
toes while being trampled and simply laughed and grinned as he tried to lead Harry  
  
about the room. That was, until the inevitable happened, Harry stepped in and left as  
  
Charlie stepped in and right, they crashed against each other and landed in a heap on  
  
the floor. Legs, arms and bodies all tangled together. They both sat there stunned till  
  
Charlie laughed loudly, then Harry joined in too, soon they were rolling on the floor  
  
laughing as tears came pouring from their eyes. As soon as Harry could catch his  
  
breath he asked Charlie who was still unable to stop laughing if he had hurt him?  
  
"Oh, don't worry about it Harry, Bill and I were always crashing together, plus I have had  
  
worst falls while playing Quidditch, are you okay? Did I fall on you?"  
  
"No, I'm fine, just covered in dust, Man Ron's room is a mess!" Harry replied, laughing  
  
again and trying to wipe the dust from his pants.  
  
"Well", said Charlie jumping up, "glad you aren't hurt. Here let me give you a hand up"  
  
and he reached down and grabbed Harry's hand, hauling him off the floor, and trying to  
  
help him wipe the dust of his trousers. Suddenly both boys stopped and Charlie  
  
realized that he was still gripping Harry's hand, he also noticed that Harry was not letting  
  
go either and that instead of looking puzzled that they still held hands, looked quizzical.   
  
The moment however was broken when Bill yelled from downstairs  
  
"Hey Charlie! Are you coming back with those dragon shells or do I have to use my  
  
treasure hunting skills to come find you?"  
  
"Coming" Charlie yelled back, distracted, "just a sec!" And turning to address Harry he  
  
said "Would you like to try again tomorrow?"  
  
Harry shuffled a little and smiled saying "Yes, I still want to master that waltz, do you still  
  
want to help me?"  
  
"Absolutely" grinned Charlie and walking towards the door he said "ask me tomorrow to  
  
see my dragon hide collection, the family has seen it a dozen times and shouldn't be  
  
interested, we can go to my room and practice some more, oh and don't forget to bring  
  
Sylvia" Charlie winked and was gone, bounding up the stairs only to return a couple  
  
seconds later with a big burlap bag.  
  
Harry smiled, and turning off the tape he grabbed a school book and flopped on his  
  
makeshift bed to wait for Ron and Hermione to return, just before opening it he said  
  
"This may have been one of my better ideas" and humming the tune under his breath  
  
he opened the book and read. 


	2. Chapter 2

Here is the conclusion to my story. It was written with a large gap between chapters. I had no intention of continuing but was urged on by my VERY kind reviewers. I apologize if this is not the ending you were hoping for. Due to the large gap I feel that the two parts may not mesh well but I am hoping for the best. Please be kind and review. I appreciate all constructive criticism.

By the way, this is completely out of Canon. It does not match up to anything Rowlings had planned for the characters.

Again I do not own the characters. Simply borrowed them for a spell.

Harry had a hard time finding the next opportune moment to ask for Charlie's help. The next day the whole family went on a trip to Diagon Alley and had stayed the night in the Leaky Cauldron. It had been quite an adventure traveling with the whole Weasley tribe but Harry was anxious to practice his dancing. The trip had taken up two precious days of practice. In less then 3 days he would be on the train back to Hogwarts and will have missed this golden opportunity. He also felt there was another opportunity he would be missing, it was not something he felt he could vocalize or even theorize about but it was definitely swirling in his head and occupying his thoughts. It almost caused him to miss what Ron was talking about.

"Oy, earth to Harry… Hermione and I are going for a walk? You want to come?"

Ron peered curiously into Harry's face. Harry could tell that Ron was trying to figure out what was on his mind. He also knew that Ron didn't really want Harry along, he was just asking to be nice and to avoid being teased by his brothers. If the twins thought that Ron was orchestrating a private walk with Hermione he would never hear the end of it. Thankfully someone else saved both of the boys from having to think up plausible excuses.

"Harry, I heard you had some adventures this year with dragons during the tournament. Why don't you come upstairs with me and I can show you my dragon skin collection and teach you a couple of tricks to help you the next time you need to tame the wild beasts." Charlie called from the other side of the room.

Harry tried not to grin to largely. This was exactly the excuse he was waiting for, he waved bye to a pleased Ron and joined Charlie on the other side of the living room. The rest of the Weasley gang was occupied in various activities around the living room and no one paid any attention as Ron and Hermione skipped out the front door and Charlie and Harry ascended the stairs to Charlie's room.

"Grab Sylvia and I will meet you up in Bill's and my room. It is at the top of the stairs on the left." Charlie said as he continued up the stairs past Ron's room. "I'm going to clear some space so we have room to practice."

Harry smiled and quickly grabbed Sylvia out of his hiding spot in Ron's room and continued up the stairs. When he arrived at the top of the stairs he found the door on the left ajar and hesitantly knocked. Unsure if he should just enter or wait to be invited. He still wasn't fluent in the family protocols, having grown up in the Dursley household he was used to the Weasley family life and didn't want to step on any toes.

"Come in come in…" he heard in answer to his knocking. The door was flung open and Charlie was standing in the middle of the room. Harry entered and gave the room a quick once over. As he suspected one wall of the room was covered in Quidditch posters and trophies from when Charlie had been a seeker for Gryffindor. Charlie grinned and waving a hand at the trophies said "I do miss the excitement sometimes, the roar of the crowd, the exhilaration of chasing the snitch, but then I remember my dragons and somehow they all pale in comparison." He grinned again and took Sylvia from Harry to setup in a corner of the room. Harry took this time to study Charlie. He liked Ron's older brother. He was calm easy in a way that none of the other Weasleys seemed to be. Harry always felt a smile playing on his lips when Charlie grinned because Charlie took everything in stride. The Weasley house was chaotic and Charlie seemed like a steady presence among the whirling masses. Harry mused that this must be the reason he was so good with the dragons. It must be hard to stay calm, cool and collected with those fiery beasts, but Charlie had a lot of practice growing up in this household.

"Hello Charlie," a sickingly sweet voice awoke Harry from his contemplations, "I am so glad you are here again. You know you were my favourite pupil in the Weasley household, even your father can't hold a candle to your dancing skills."

Charlie grinned that infectious grin and motioned for Harry to join him in the middle of the room.

"Okay, Sylvia, we are ready to begin now."

Charlie held out his hands and they began to dance. It quickly became clear that Harry was not doing any better than he had in the last session but that didn't seem to faze Charlie who cast a quick "scutum digitorum" on his toes and continued.

Harry for his part was trying really hard but he was distracted. Charlie kept telling Harry to not look at his toes and to look him in the face but Harry was very distracted by Charlie's face. He found that when Charlie grinned at him he lost his count. Sylvia had little patience and her voice kept growing more and more strident. Charlie could see that something was bothering Harry and so about 20 minutes into the lesson he stopped the tape.

"Okay Harry, good beginning but I think we need a break." He motioned to Sylvia to turn her off before she could make some snide comment and crush more of Harry's confidence in dancing. "Come have a seat and let's rest our feet for a minute." Charlie walked over to his bed and pulled out a two chocolate frogs from his bedside table. He threw one to Harry who caught it expertly. Charlie plopped down on his bed and Harry took the seat beside the bed. He was a little bit worried that somehow he had messed up the lesson and the camaraderie that he was beginning to build with Charlie was all in his head.

"So," Charlie asked, "What made you decide to learn how to dance?"

"Oh, you know the Tri-Wizard tournament? Well we had this ball and all of the competitor had to bring dates and dance the first dance. I brought this girl from Gryffindor, Parvati Patil. It was disastrous. I felt like a trussed up pony being lead around the room. She ended up abandoning me and dancing with this boy from Beauxbatons. I was actually relieved a little when she left me. I didn't want to go to the dance with her but I couldn't find a date and Ron actually set the whole thing up. I am afraid he is much more adept at getting girls then I am." Harry finished with a shrug.

"We Weasleys have a certain charm," Charlie quipped, "I think it has to do with the red hair."

Harry grinned and opened his chocolate frog. He glanced at Charlie who had finished his frog already and was crumpling up the paper. He tossed it into the waste basket and scored. Grinning at Harry in triumph. Harry felt so comfortable that he asked the question that had been nagging at him since Charlie confessed to using the tape.

"So, how did Bill convince you to learn how to dance?"

Charlie laughed and sat up straighter. "Now, that is a funny story. You see Bill was obsessed with this girl named Charisma Coulter. CiCi for short. He followed her around like a puppy dog. She was very pretty, long dark hair, dark eyes and she walked like a ballerina. She came from a muggle family and before she began at Hogwarts she had been in Arts schools and had been on the fast track to be a ballerina star. She had had hopes of going to Julliard and being on stage with the big ballerina companies. When she came to Hogwarts she had to give a lot of that up, but it still showed in how she walked and held herself. Bill was entranced. He was convinced the only way to win her was to learn to dance himself. He was desperate. Lucky for him, I had a crush of my own. His name was Patrick Geroux. He played for the Beauxbatons quidditch team. He was French and gorgeous. Have you studied the way French men move? They are graceful and debonair. They have a certain way of holding their bodies that makes them seem fluid. We met during a friendly quidditch match and I was hooked. He played Keeper for the other team and the way he moved around those goals. I almost lost the game because I was so mesmorized."

Harry was unsure how to process this information. He kept his face neutral for fear of revealing his own thoughts. He listened intently to Charlie's story.

"Of course Bill noticed right away that I was off my game. He approached me right out of the game and confronted me about the attraction. I was a little scared. This was my first gay attraction. I had never told anyone that I was attracted to men. The wizarding world is not as homophobic as the muggle world can be but gay people weren't exactly broadcasting their relationships. Bill had no issues about the gay attraction, but he did have a scheme. Bill is very good at reading situations and creating schemes or seeing where the opportunities lie. You think the twins are good at pranks, you have never seen a Bill prank, he is a master! So, his scheme was to convince poor, naïve and infatuated me that learning how to dance was the way to catch Patrick's eye. He was sure that this was the way to get noticed." Charlie grinned again, "Boy were we wrong!"

Harry laughed, "So, what happened?"

"It turned out that Charisma was actually taking summer ballet classes at Beauxbatons and she and Patrick were dance partners. Neither of them was interested in a pair of freckled red-heads. Both of us lost our first loves. But not before we crushed each others toes and made complete fools of ourselves." Charlie laughed, sighed and grinned. He had fond memories of his years at Hogwarts.

"Well, " Charlie said, dusting chocolate crumbs off of his pants, "Shall we try again?"

Harry was pleased that Charlie was willing to try teaching him again. He was enjoying Charlie's company and Charlie was giving his a lot of things to think about. Harry tried to also hide his growing attraction to Ron's brother. He knew he was much younger than Charlie and didn't even know if Charlie was single. Harry hadn't even confirmed his sexual orientation, all he knew right now was that he was enjoying this mans company and would like the time together to continue.

Charlie had decided that the only way to make Harry comfortable and to keep his eyes up was to keep engaging him in conversation. He tried to read Harry's indiscernible face. Obviously the wheels were turning but Charlie was unable to tell what was going on behind those glasses. Either way he was going to find out and get to the bottom of this, it was his duty as teacher, big brother and hopefully new friend to the young man.

"So," he dove right in, "If Ron hadn't found you guys dates, whom would you have liked to take to the ball?" Charlie decided the best approach was a straightforward one.

Harry coughed. He was not ready for the direct approach from Charlie. Although he appreciated the candor he was not sure that he was ready to vocalize his inner most thoughts quite yet. He looked at Charlie, who grinned and smiled. He led Harry around the room and waited for the younger man to pull his thoughts together.

"Uhm, I am not quite sure actually. I, uhm, I asked Cho Chang, but I was too late." He said.

"Did you want to ask anyone else?" Charlie asked gently. He didn't want to push the young man, but he could feel Harry's confidence growing. The dancing was already improving because he could feel that Harry was relaxing. He had also switched Sylvia off and now the player only played a nice slow waltz with a quiet counting in the background.

Harry looked at Charlie again. He could feel his palms getting a little sweaty but Charlie was not letting go. Charlie was looking earnestly into his face and Harry could see why Ron said that Charlie was the best brother to go to for advice. He was easy to talk to and created a comfort zone that allowed even the most difficult topics to be voiced.

"Well, I think, like you I may have a thing for Quidditch players, Cedric Diggory, was pretty cute. Its funny actually he ended up going with Cho Chang."

Charlie laughed; he couldn't help it. He was amazed that Harry had the courage not only to confess his homosexual tendencies, but to make a joke about them. He shouldn't have expected any less from the boy who lived, noted for his courage in the face of adversity.

"Guess that like me you are fated to be attracted to those who are attracted to others." Charlie replied grinning. "Unless," he slyly asked, "There are other Quidditch players who have caught your fancy?"

Harry was about to reply when Bill's voice once again broke up their practice.

"Charlie", Bill bellowed from the stairs, "Haven't you subjected the poor boy to enough of your dragon stories?"

Charlie laughed and grinned. He turned off Sylvia and the two of them put the furniture back just in time for Bill's entrance into their room. "Okay, enough of the stories you two. We want to play Quidditch and we need two seekers. You two are drafted."

Harry nodded and began to walk downstairs. Charlie moved to follow him when he felt an arm shoot out and hit him in the chest.

"What are you up to little brother?" Bill asked suspiciously. "Your dragon scale collection is still in the closet and Sylvia is sitting on the bureau. Should I be concerned?

"Not at all Bill. " Charlie lowered his voice. "Look, Harry doesn't want anyone to know but he is trying to learn to waltz after a disastrous dance at the Triwizard tournament last year."

"Is this a repeat of the Patrick debacle?" Bill asked concerned.

"Not at all Bill, Charlie said smiling, "not at all."

The next three days flew by for Harry. He was surprised to find that it became easier to find times and ways to sneak away from the family and go practice with Charlie. Charlie was becoming a real friend and mentor. As they learned to dance they talked about Quidditch and Hogwarts and Harry was pleased to find that Charlie was extremely knowledgeable and easy to talk to about any subject. He knew that he would miss the growing friendship when he had to return to Hogwarts. He hoped they could stay in touch. He knew that his attraction to Charlie was beginning to grow and he hoped that no one else noticed the time away or the attraction.

Finally the final day approached and it was time for them to leave for the train. Harry was leaving with mixed feelings. He was glad to be going back to Hogwarts but he wished that he could find a way to resolve his feelings for Charlie or at the very least a way to figure out how to continue their friendship.

He had finished packing and was carting his truck down the stairs when he met Charlie on the stairs.

"Let me give you a hand with that" Charlie said.

The two of them carried the trunk down and placed it in the car. Harry was the second one packed and ready to go, everyone else was still running around the house and trying to collect the last minute things. Well, except for Hermione of course. Her trunk was already in the car, but she was helping Ginny to collect her things.

"Come upstairs for minute, I have something for you." Charlie said mysteriously.

The pair went trudging back up the stairs to the now almost vacant room that Bill and Charlie had shared. Bill had left yesterday so the room was now just strewn with Charlie's last minute preparations.

"I made you a package, it has a dance tape in it for you to practice at Hogwarts. Hope the practices we had and the tape will help you to get the courage to ask the right someone the next time you have a ball to attend. Oh and I included a copy of my address at the dragon sanctuary. I hope you will keep in touch over the year and let me know how the Quidditch team is doing. I am really glad we got to be friends Harry."

Harry grinned and thanked Charlie. He was really glad that Charlie wanted to keep in touch. He was beginning to have confidence that he would ask the right person the next time an opportunity to go to a dance arose.

Charlie leaned over and gave Harry a hug. It was a great hug. Harry reveled in the feeling of Charlie against him. He squeezed Charlie tight. Harry knew that good hugs had been few and far between growing up so he cherished each hug he got now. Hermione was a good hugger but somehow it was different from Charlie. He could feel the heat emanating from Charlie's chest. He wished for more but was unsure how to initiate it. Then Charlie surprised him again and he kissed Harry lightly on the cheek. Harry was stunned and excited. When he didn't pull away Charlie kissed him on the lips. A small chaste kiss with the promise of more. He knew this was Harry's first male kiss and he didn't want to scare the boy. He felt Harry push against him and deepened the kiss slightly. When they finally pulled away from each other Charlie was grinning and Harry smiled too.

Charlie didn't want to ruin the moment with a lot of words so he pushed the package firmly into Harry's hand and simply said "Keep in touch." He smiled and left the room.

Harry was in a daze. Charlie had confirmed it for him. He was definitely attracted to the red head and he was excited for the year of correspondence to begin. On his way down the stairs he met Ron. Ron who was usually clueless noticed that Harry had a big grin on his face.

"What are you so happy about?" He asked Harry.

"Ron," Harry replied, "I have had a great summer and I am looking forward to the year ahead!"


End file.
